Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly shouted at his top military leaders last week for disclosing worries about damage to the Zionist entity’s defenses wrought by reservists suspending volunteer duty to protest his government.
The Friday phone conference, during which the premier was said to have berated Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy and Air Force head Tomer Bar, came hours after the occupation army confirmed that Bar had warned protesting reserve pilots of “worsening damage to the army’s readiness.”
“It looks like the army is running the country,” Netanyahu reportedly exploded at the pair, according to unsourced reports carried by Channels 12 and 13.
“You’re damaging our deterrent credibility,” he was said to have shouted. “Why are you putting out headlines like this?”
Both Halevi and Bar refused requests to walk back the comments on the army’s readiness, the reports said, with Halevi quoted as telling Netanyahu that “it is our duty to issue a warning when the army’s fitness is at risk.”
Netanyahu’s bureau denied that he had yelled during the talks, telling Channel 13 that “even when the prime minister speaks forcefully, he doesn’t yell,” The Times of Israel reported.
Bar’s comments Friday underlined what are said to be growing concerns among Israeli military leaders over the loss of reservists who have halted volunteer duty to protest the government’s planned judicial overhaul.
As the reservists’ revolt has spread to some of the armed forces’ most elite units and divisions, military leaders have struggled to stay sanguine on the issue publicly, with the occupation military’s spokesman admitting last week that “there is limited harm in some areas.”
At a meeting with the generals on Sunday, which also included Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and National Security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, the military heads were said to have warned Netanyahu that the army would really begin to feel the impact in another two weeks, according to the Kan public broadcaster.
Source: Israeli media
